The first week of January passed very slowly for Shi Meng.

He finished one painting and began to draft another. He was interested in painting portraits, but worried that he was not good at painting figures because he was used to painting landscapes, so he found some books to study.

Jiang Xue was speechless when she learned about this: "You're already an artist of this level, do you still need to read books and study?"

Of course I want to.

Just like learning to get along with people, not long ago Shi Meng insisted on his own methods, believing that as long as the methods were strong enough, he could keep those who belonged to him by his side. But now, he has tasted the sweetness of yielding and found that Fu Xuanliao's attitude is also changing, becoming more willing to get closer and more gentle.

No one is born liking to fight, and Shi Meng thinks this is good; given more time, maybe...

Time stopped his imagination.

Being in a completely unfamiliar field, he dared not easily predict the outcome, but as long as things were developing in a positive direction, he was satisfied.

Busy until Saturday, Shi Meng got up early. When he came downstairs, Shi Huaiyi and Li Bihan were having breakfast. He wanted to avoid them, but Shi Huaiyi called out to him, "Xiao Meng, you got up so early. Come on, have something to eat before you go out."

Shi Meng had no choice but to go over and was seated in the middle of the long table, sandwiched between the two people. During the meal, only the soft clinking of knives, forks, bowls, and plates could be heard. If one did not know the inside story, anyone would think that this was just an ordinary family.

The Shi family has many rules, with only a slight relaxation at the breakfast table. After finishing his meal, Shi Huaiyi put down his utensils and asked Shi Meng what he had been busy with lately. Shi Meng said he was painting. He then asked if he could help him contact schools for graduate studies, but Shi Meng shook his head and refused.

Shi Huai also said that the school atmosphere today is open and inclusive, which is very different from many years ago, intending to tell Shi Meng that there is no need to worry about the farce of that year repeating itself.

But Shi Meng became even more afraid of communicating with people after that incident, and he was afraid of crowded places. Fortunately, he usually worked alone, and the part that required interacting with people was left to Jiang Xue. He naturally resisted returning to the campus with its high population density.

Shi Huaiyi probably just mentioned it casually, and seeing that he was unwilling, he didn't force him. However, Li Bihan, who had been silent until now, smiled contemptuously when she heard him say that he didn't want to go back to school, as if mocking his lack of ambition.

Back then, Shi Mu was not even twenty years old when she was admitted to the graduate program of the Academy of Fine Arts. If it weren't for her serious illness, she would have graduated by now.

Shi Meng bit down on the fork, her teeth unconsciously working hard until it hurt, before she finally let go.

Li Bihan didn't seem to be planning to go out today. She was wearing simple home clothes, her long black hair was loosely tied back, and there was a glass of juice in front of her. On the plate, there was only toast with vegetables and a half-eaten boiled egg.

Shi Meng didn't know why he always found himself paying attention to her. Perhaps it was because he had been taken care of by her in this family and had drunk the soup she cooked, even though she did these things against her will.

When they were almost finished eating, Shi Huaiyi asked Shi Meng where he was going so early, and Shi Meng said he was picking up the cat.

"A cat?" Shi Huaiyi was stunned for a moment before realizing what he meant. "Oh, the cat that you told me about last time, the one your teacher Sun has?"

Shi Meng mumbled a reply: "Hmm."

Keeping a cat was no small matter for the Shi family. Shi Meng informed Shi Huaiyi a few days in advance, fearing that mentioning Yang Youlan would cause trouble, so he lied and said that it was Sun Yanfeng's cat, and quickly got approval.

Shi Huai nodded and instructed, "Your teacher, Mr. Sun, has been kind to our family. Please take good care of his cat."

The so-called "favor" was nothing more than persuading Yang Youlan to send Shi Meng back to the Shi family, and starting with the young Shi Mu, trying to come up with ideas to get the Shi family to accept Shi Meng's existence.

However, for Shi Huai, this was a favor, but for Li Bihan, it was a conspiracy, or rather a disaster. A stranger suddenly joined their happy family of four. Although they had known of his existence for a long time, living together was a different matter altogether.

Therefore, Li Bihan's face fell when she heard Sun Yanfeng's name, and she was even more disgusted when she heard that she was going to help him take care of his cat: "Where is there any room for a cat in the house? Who will clean up the cat hair all over the place?"

Shi Meng said, "I will keep it under control and not let it run around."

Li Bihan remained noncommittal, told the housekeeper to prepare dinner properly, and then got up and went upstairs.

Shi Huaiyi had wanted to keep her to chat a little longer, but he felt a bit embarrassed after being embarrassed, so he could only say to Shi Meng, "Go and come back early. Your Uncle Fu and Aunt Fu will be coming to our house for dinner today."

On the way, Shi Meng hesitated several times but still did not call Fu Xuanliao.

He wanted to ask Fu Xuanliao why he hadn't told him that his family would be coming over for dinner that evening, and guessed that Fu Xuanliao might have thought it was a normal thing and that's why he hadn't told him.

No wonder I didn't agree to go out with him last week; it turns out I had other plans.

Moreover, Jiang Xue had reminded him not to be too clingy, as keeping too close a relationship would only push the other person further away.

Shi Meng believed this, because Jiang Xue also told him that to deal with a man like Fu Xuanliao, you had to be gentle. The more domineering and forceful you were, the more the other party would resent you. If you didn't care, he would get anxious and might come back to coax you immediately, offering himself up to you.

Raising her left wrist, the sapphire shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Recalling how Fu Xuanliao pretended not to care when he put the bracelet on her wrist, Shi Meng smiled faintly.

It turns out I don't need to fight for him; he already knows what I like and what I want.

Perhaps it was because the sapphire was so eye-catching that when Shi Meng entered Yang Youlan's residence in the east of the city, the first thing that caught his attention was her wrist.

"Where did you get such a big rock?" Yang Youlan exclaimed in surprise. "Did your dad buy it for you?"

Unable to find slippers, Shi Meng stood at the door, caught in a dilemma, and muttered, "No."

Fortunately, Sun Yanfeng also came out and, familiar with the place, took a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet next to him and put them on the ground: "It's cold outside, come in quickly."

Before coming, Meng Neng guessed that Teacher Sun would also be there. When we contacted each other on WeChat yesterday, Teacher Sun told him to leave early and said we would have lunch together. At that time, she didn't say where we would meet, but it turned out to be at Yang Youlan's house.

Upon entering the room, Shi Meng sat down at the far end of the sofa, and after two minutes, moved further to the side.

This house is not the one he lived in until he was eight years old; it is the property that Shi Huaiyi transferred to Yang Youlan four years ago.

So the location and layout are both good, and the 100-square-meter apartment is quite spacious, completely different from the drafty, leaky bungalow of the past. Shi Meng first glanced at the window of the dining room and kitchen, then looked at the window of the living room balcony opposite, remembering that Jiang Xue had explained to him when she bought the house that this was called a north-south facing apartment.

"What are you staring at like an idiot for?" Yang Youlan's high-pitched voice interrupted his observation at just the right moment. "Come and help me."

Shi Meng hadn't even settled in his seat before he stood up, washed his hands in the kitchen sink, and started helping to make dumplings.

He could make dumplings when he was six years old, and he's still quite skilled at it now. When Sun Yanfeng saw that the dumplings he made were round and plump, with neat and beautiful pleats, he smiled and his eyes narrowed: "You can be both an artist and a domestic chef. Mengmeng is really good."

Yang Youlan glanced at it and snorted, "I thought you were used to living in a big house and wouldn't come back to this shabby place. I didn't expect you to still remember how to make dumplings."

The three of them sat together and ate a peaceful lunch.

Perhaps because Sun Yanfeng was there, Yang Youlan became more restrained and stopped saying hurtful things like before, instead stuffing dumplings into her mouth.

After dinner, Meng Ben wanted to wash the dishes, but Sun Yanfeng took the sink first and told him to go rest: "While you're at it, look for Mumu, that cat, and see where it's run off to again."

Shi Meng had never kept pets before. Before coming, she used her phone to look up cat habits online. She thought that the cat must have been hiding because a stranger had come to the house, so she searched for it in the nooks and crannies.

There was no dining room, no living room, and no balcony. Finally, she spotted a fluffy tail peeking out from around the corner of an open bedroom door. Shi Meng tiptoed inside, intending to pick the cat up.

Who would have thought that the cat was so clever? Hearing the noise, it turned around and darted out. Shi Meng was bending over to catch it when it rushed out and startled him. In the instant he fell backward, he grabbed the dresser next to him. He didn't catch the cat, but knocked two books off the table.

After regaining his balance, Shi Meng breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he hadn't fallen. His right ankle sprain from last week hadn't fully healed yet, and another injury would be troublesome.

Leaning against the wall and bending down to pick up the books that had fallen to the ground, Shi Meng discovered that the A3-sized folder was actually a picture book.

As a professional illustrator, he found it strange that a sketchbook was in Yang Youlan's bedroom. He flipped through a couple of pages and immediately recognized the paintings. When he looked down to the bottom right corner and saw the signature "Mu," he confirmed that the paintings were by the artist.

Before Shi Meng could recover, the folder in his hand was suddenly snatched away. Yang Youlan, who rushed over upon hearing the noise, glared at him and shouted angrily, "Who let you into my room and touch my things?"

Shi Meng opened his mouth, but couldn't answer.

Sun Yanfeng, who arrived shortly after, quickly stood between the two, took the folder from Yang Youlan's hand, seemed to be stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and said, "I was wondering why I couldn't find this picture book, so it was left here."

Yang Youlan was still angry, but after hearing Sun Yanfeng's words, she felt a little guilty for some reason. She turned her face away and said vaguely, "Yes, remember to take it when you go back."

In the afternoon, Meng wanted to go home early, so Sun Yanfeng tried her best to coax the cat out. She packed the cat in a prepared airline crate, along with various cat food and supplies, and was still panting when she carried it downstairs.

“I’m getting old, I can’t deny it.” Sun Yanfeng wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed the carrier to Shi Meng. “This cat is a little shy, but you’ll get used to it once you get to know it.”

Shi Meng took it and originally planned to put it in the trunk, but after thinking about it, she opened the back door and placed the cat on the seat.

As the car moved to the intersection, Sun Yanfeng hadn't gone back upstairs yet. Shi Meng rolled down the window to say goodbye. He bent down and leaned close to the window as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, saying, "Mengmeng, your mother has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Don't take what she says to heart."

Shi Meng didn't know how to respond.

Sun Yanfeng added, "If she really didn't want you to be happy, she wouldn't have sent you back to the Shi family in the first place, right?"

Shi Meng paused for a moment, then nodded.

Sun Yanfeng seemed relieved, straightened up and sighed, "You've suffered all these years."

Shi Meng couldn't understand the "grievance" that Teacher Sun mentioned, since he rarely even felt that kind of emotion.

He guessed that Teacher Sun was mostly referring to Shi Mu's favoritism, but liking someone is something that can't be controlled. He could understand everyone who liked Shi Mu but didn't like him. At least Shi Mu's impression on everyone around him was that he was cheerful, excellent, or sunny and kind. It wasn't surprising that people who hadn't seen his true face thought that way.

Recalling his interactions with Shi Mu many years ago, especially their last meeting four years ago, Shi Meng shuddered at the triumphant smile on Shi Mu's pale face, and his palms, gripping the steering wheel, became sweaty.

On the way back, Shi Meng stopped at a flower shop, parked her car on the side of the road, and went in to buy two bouquets of flowers.

It was Jiang Xue who told him that flowers make people feel happy, and she has recently become reluctant to refuse the flowers that Gao Lecheng sends her.

Shi Meng had made up her mind: she would give the red roses to Fu Xuanliao and put the lisianthus in a vase at the corner of the stairs. Li Bihan liked white, and seeing it when she came downstairs would cheer her up, and maybe she wouldn't mind him keeping a cat.

He had everything prepared and was almost impatient to get home. When he saw Fu Xuanliao's car parked in the garage, he quickened his pace even more. In his haste, he forgot the cat in the car and turned back to get it when he was almost at the door.

With too many things in her hands, Shi Meng first went upstairs to put the pet carrier and a large bag of cat supplies in the bedroom, then took two bouquets of flowers out and arranged the white one.

Thinking that she hadn't seen anyone in the study downstairs when she passed by earlier, and that most of the guests were in the living room on the second floor, Shi Meng tried to walk as quietly as possible in the corridor, so as not to disturb them.

Reaching the door, she realized she was still holding the roses. They were for Fu Xuanliao, and it would be impolite to bring them to the elders. Shi Meng hesitated for only a moment before turning around to put the flowers back in her bedroom.

Just then, the sound of voices coming from the living room through a thin wooden sliding door made him stop in his tracks.

“I said back then that signing a contract was inappropriate; fate can’t be forced like that,” said Li Bihan.

Then came a male voice, which Shi Meng didn't recognize; it was probably Fu Xuanliao's father: "So we've come here today hoping to have a calm discussion about terminating the contract."

Like a heavy punch coming straight at you, before you even have time to feel the pain, a violent buzzing sound explodes in your ears, then spreads to your brain, quickly taking over all your senses.

Shi Meng stood there blankly, as if her soul had been ripped away, completely unaware that the flower in her hand had fallen to the ground.

The conversation inside stopped. Someone approached, the wooden door was pushed open, and a foot stepped on a fallen, fiery red petal.

Upon seeing the person standing at the door, Fu Xuanliao was first stunned, then frowned slightly with annoyance: "What are you doing here?"